London Part 1

One of the exciting things about staying in England over the Holidays was that some of our dearest and closest friends decided to come for a visit! Dave have almost an entire month off of school, so we certainly made use of as much time as possible and decided to meet our friends in London, tour for a few days and celebrate New Years there, before than heading back to Newcastle. Although we did a lot of travelling, and riding the tube, we had a great time and have memories that will last a life time.

Dave and I actually arrived in London a day early as our friends flight came in around 7am and we wanted to be be sure that we would be able to see them off the plane!!! So we did a little touring ourselves, some sight seeing and some shopping!!!! It was such a fun night!

Right out of Kings Cross (train station) and our first stop is "Platform 9 3/4".

Very Excited!

Touring Kensington Palace

Kensington Gardens

In front of the Orangery

High Tea at the Orangery

Princess Diana Memorial Pond. It was beautiful!

Big, Beautiful Swans at the Pond.

They were a little intimidating though lol.

This was right before he started flapping his wings and coming at me. I ran screaming!!!!!

They were massive!!!!!  And you can see where our Canadian Geese head in the winter lol. So much for Florida!

Of course there is a football pitch in front of Kensington Palace. We sat to watch some kids play!

Gates at Kensington Palace

Stunning Architecture everywhere!

Double Decker Bus across from Hyde Park

We made it to Hyde Park!

Princess Diana Walkway continued...touring through Hyde Park

We have spotted Harrods!

I am so so so excited!

It truly was magical to see at Christmas!

Did some Christmas shopping for two of our favorite little people!!! So many amazing items and certainly a must see when touring around London!!! Glad we went at Christmas!!!

Happy Christmas 2011

Our Christmas in Newcastle, England!

Christmas Eve in Newcastle

Our Teeny Tiny Britishy tree

Love the little mugs (and chocolate we got from my Aunt and Uncle)

Christmas Eve Presents "Christmas Pants"

Christmas Morning!

We stayed in our new "Christmas Pants" all day lol.

We had to have turkey!!! Needless to say, we ate turkey for quite some time after.

Wallace and Gromit Puzzle!!! Appropriate for England I would say!

Christmas Cookie Contest 2011!!!!

Dave Mixing the Dry Ingredients

Thanks to Mama Ilceski we had sprinkles and our Snowflake Cookie Cutter (My Favorite)

Hahah He was a little excited!

Christmas Cookies 2012

All of our cookies (there were two plates)...I think we might have gained a lot over the Holidays!!!!

This was our cookie we made for Mitch "The Judge". Apparently he didn't get the memo that our cookie, although arrived in Canada hard as a rock haha, still should have won!!!

Happy Christmas (A little late I know)

The journey of medical school is definitely exciting and ever changing; it seems that in an instant, we are doing something new...but we have learned to embrace this attitude.

This Christmas was the first that we celebrated with just the two of us. Since being married (almost five years now) we have tried to 'share' family time and holidays...this is much easier said than done. However this year, we simply had no choice (hahah) and we got to have our first Christmas where we woke up in our own home, stayed in our new Christmas pants (a Christmas tradition) and enjoyed a nice relaxing day; followed by a turkey that was simply too big for two people to try to consume.  But it certainly brought about a great deal of memories.

We had a great time trying to embrace all the traditions of England, things that we simply wouldn't have taken part in at home and just make the best of this opportunity.

Although having no snow at Christmas was definitely an adjustment, eating Christmas Pudding was an even more of an adjustment haha! We truly wont forget our time here at Christmas (especially Fenwicks display and 'Happy Christmas') but we will be grateful when we can celebrate with our families back home as well.

Our gift this year certainly wasn't one that could be purchased in any store; we learned the value of family and just simply being together for Christmas.  We have realized that out of all the things we miss from home (stores, foods, products etc.) we miss our family the most!

We have learned, although we truly have been blessed at having the opportunity to grow in our marriage and faith on this journey, we certainly are going to appreciate friends, family and just the small things about home when we are finally back in Canada (or the USA) and can truly create traditions and our 'home' as a family.

Next post will have all the pictures of our Holidays!!! I am so behind....so pictures will have to suffice.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

We have finally brought a little Christmas Spirit to our flat and put up our Christmas Tree.
Now it isn't quite like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, with only one ornament and half falling over, but it certainly comes close.

We found this little tree for £2 (which is about $3.00) in the city centre, but it is perfect for us right now. Not only does it fit in our little flat, but we should be able to pack it up and take it with us to Grenada in a few months (wow that's a scary thought).

We didn't bring any Christmas decorations or ornaments (they are called Baubles here...which I LOVE) so I had to improvise and try to find something cheap and something that we would be able to transport as we move all around the world in the next few years (or if they were to get damaged, it wouldn't be a big deal). 

Since we know that every year we will be living in another Country, we decided that we wanted our tree to represent our life for that particular year. So this year, it's a true British Christmas Tree (minus the candles and 'fairy' (angel) on top) as we try to embrace and celebrate our first British Christmas together. There will however be no Black pudding or Figgy pudding in this house, this Christmas!!!

So I bought a package of baubles from The Pound Store (yes it's their Dollar Store) and a package of ribbons and pine cones (they came in a package that you would put in a bowl as a centre piece) and printed some British flags off our computer. I just bought some twine and made a 'hook' for each bauble and decoration that I wanted to hang. It was cheap and easy to do (again, if anything gets broken we wont be too sad about it lol).

So here is our wonderful tree this year....WE LOVE IT!

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!!! It's almost falling over.